


Falling into a Busch

by Kboys71



Category: NASCAR RPF, The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: 2016, Carl Edwards Tribute, F/M, Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2018-09-17 18:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9337547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kboys71/pseuds/Kboys71
Summary: After a crazy day at work, Lori finds some friends for the whole family.





	1. The Outlaw

****_****__****_****It was just another day at the old grind for Lori Loud, working her part time shift at the arcade in town. While it wasn't exactly the first thing she would want to be doing on a Sunday, she really couldn't complain over it either. After all, it was nice to have extra money on hand, and the hours were never that inconvenient (besides that one time Lincoln was trying to impress that one jackass with free food and nearly cost her a trip to the dance). Add mostly straightforward work and the occasional visits from friends to that, and work was pretty alright.

Lori came in the afternoon that day, and was greeted with a decent amount of kids to attend to. Made sense, no school on Sunday. She quickly got down to business, dispensing pizza, tokens and other goodies to kids and a few parents. The amount of people she served stayed consistent for most of the day, but started to dip as it got later in the afternoon. This continued as it got dark outside, until the place was eventually empty of anyone besides employees.

At this, Lori pulled out her phone. 7:35. Still 25 minutes away from being able to leave. She leaned behind the counter and started browsing on her phone through texts and social media. Through the swarm of messages she was digging through, she almost didn't notice the bell at the front of the store ring. She quickly pocketed her phone and looked up to see who came in, only to see whoever it was ducked behind the wall of arcade cabinets. Considering they didn't come towards the counter, Lori assumed they didn't need her, so she stayed put behind the counter. After listening to them for a few seconds, however, Lori immediately noticed something weird.

Two adult voices could be heard from behind the cabinets, obviously of those who just walked in. Any adults who came into the arcade were parents watching their kids. She hadn’t worked here for that long, but long enough to know this wasn't normal. Feeling a pinch of curiosity, she started listening to their conversation.

“Ready for this ass-kicking, brother?”

“Nn---nu uh! You’re getting your ass kicked in!”

“Whatever man. Better be ready to put your money where your mouth is!”

“Sh-shut up! Just play the game you moron!”

This trashtalk continued for a bit. One thing Lori noticed after a while was that one of them was acting a little loopy. Whether that be the quickly shifting attitude towards his apparent brother or the stuttery speech, something seemed a little off about him.

After a few minutes, the two came around the corner of cabinets. The first one was a decently young looking man, with some facial hair but a bit baby faced beyond that. And wore a dopey smile on top of all that. The second was a bit taller, looked a bit younger, and was a bit baby faced too. They both came around without paying any mind to Lori and stopped at another machine. Once they had gotten settled in and continued their onslaught of trash talk, Lori looked at her phone once again. 7:50. She proceeded to half listen to the ball-busting session going on and the other half texting her friends. However, it wasn't long before something really caught her attention.

“ALRIGHT! Grudge match! You’re going down!” After this, a clank could be heard against the cabinet, along with a popping sound. Lori craned her neck to look at what had been opened. The older looking one was taking a pull out of a bottle of Miller. That explained the loopiness…

Alcohol wasn't allowed in here, it was a kids arcade after all. “Hey sir! Sir!” Lori called out, but neither of them payed a glance in her direction. Looks like it was time to go and confront them face to face. She wondered for a second if it really mattered if this guy was drinking with less than 10 minutes to closing, with not another soul in sight. But if almost missing the dance taught her anything, she knew her boss could be real strict on rules, and he sure wouldn't be happy if that beer spilled on the floor.

She walked over to them right as they seemed to be off to another cabinet.

“Excuse me sir, but you can’t have that drink in here.”

The man turned around, looking confused. “Huh?” He responded.

“No alcoholic beverages in the arcade please.” She repeated. The man’s face twisted in a partially perplexed, partially dopey look.

“Heh, but why not? Not hurting anyone, hehe…” this was followed by him sucking down more of the booze. It was clear this guy was far from sober, but that swig seemed like a blatant taunt meant to rub Lori the wrong way.

“Sir, you have to leave here if you don't get rid of that.” Lori started to approach the man some more, getting an idea to quickly snag it from his hands.

“Pfffftttt! Listen. I can be a re...sponsible adult with this stuff. No one seems to understand. M-moderation can work wond…”

While he was starting to ramble, Lori tried her best to slip the bottle from his grasp. However, it immediately proved to be a mistake.

“HEY! FUCK OFF!” He yelled, accompanied by a hook to Lori’s gut. It really caught her off guard, as it caused he to stumble back, bump her head on an arcade cabinet, and fall on her butt. She closed her eyes and grabbed where she bumped her head.

“FINE! I’LL JUST LEAVE THEN YOU BITCH!” He yelled, with the front door bell chiming soon after. Lori opened her eyes for a moment to look around. She thought it would be empty, and it was until she looked right. The other man was looking at her from a ways away, with a look bordering on surprise and pity on his face. After closing and re-opening her eyes once again, the other man had vanished.

It took a few minutes for Lori to get up and move again. She wasn’t bleeding anywhere after the blow, but she could definitely feel a bit of a headache from the bump. She figured at this point it would have to be 8 o’clock at least, so she walked behind the counter, grabbed the money she made off of tips today, and proceeded out the door. She would normally stay a few minutes late to help clean up, but she just wanted to get out of there at the moment. Right before she got in the family van in left however, she looked around the parking lot. No sign of the drunkard or his buddy anywhere.

After this empty sign, Lori decided to forget about them for the night and just go home. The headache subsided a bit on the way there, but it was still noticeably painful. It was about 8:30 when she got home, meaning the younger of her siblings would be in bed. She opened the door and looked inside to find Leni, Luan, and Luna all watching something on TV.

“Hey dude! What’s up!” Luna greeted as Lori walked through the door.

“Ugh, hi girls.” Lori halved moaned, still clutching her head. This less than stellar response got the 3 of them to look Lori’s way.

“Gee, everything okay sis?” Luan asked, a bit of concern in her voice.

“Yeah just…… some drunk guy came in and beat me up a bit…..” This statement induced a look of shock from all 3 of Lori’s sisters.

“Jeez dude, how’d that happen? Wanna talk about it for a bit?” Luna asked. Lori really didn’t see any point in telling them more, nor was she in the mood to.

“No, it’s okay. I’d rather just go and lay down for right now.” She replied. She then walked upstairs and to her room.

“WAIT! I thought only the game people got beaten up in arcades!” she heard Leni yell.

Lying down in her bed was a real relief from the injury. While she sort of wanted to go back down and chill with her siblings, she really couldn’t muster the want to leave her bed behind. She decided it would be better to just drift off to sleep right now, despite how early it was for her. The pain would be gone in the morning, and she could explain it to her sisters then. And besides, she had to work again tomorrow.... 


	2. Siblings Always Have Each Other's Backs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite concerns from her sisters, Lori goes back to work the next day.

Lori awoke the next morning feeling well rested and painless. While she could still feel the bump on the back of her head by hand, it didn't bother her in any way and was completely concealed by her hair. She was lowkey happy about this, as being asked “what happened?” all day probably would have gotten on her nerves.

After sleeping on it, Lori really didn't know what to think about last night. She felt like she should be angry for the abuse she was subjected to, but she was more confused than anything. Why had they come in there? And where did they vanish off to? Lori kept these questions in the back of her mind as she got up to prepare for her day ahead.

Lori poked outside to see that she got lucky with waking up, as it was just Lucy and Luna ahead of her for the bathroom. She lined up behind Luna, as her spot would be taken without any hesitation from her other siblings. As she got in line, Luna turned around and half smiled at Lori.

“Heya dude, you feeling alright?” She asked, in her normal cheery voice.

"I’m doing fine, thanks for asking.” Lori responded.

“Hey, great to hear it!” Luna beamed, seeming genuinely happy at this answer. A brief moment of silence fell upon the hallway, waiting for Lucy to finish up in the bathroom.

“So uh…. was that story you told last night for real?” Luna then asked.

“Yeah, some boozer came in and slugged me when I tried to make him stop.”

“Gnarly dude… any idea of what you’re gonna do about it?” Luna questioned. This question caught Lori a bit off guard. She would have tried something on the ruffian last night if she got a hold of him or even saw his license plate, but hadn't thought about if she was going to do anything today. The only thought about it she had was to just forget about it, as it was an isolated incident. She had a feeling Luna wouldn’t stand for her doing nothing about it, though.

Right as she was about to mentally throw in the towel and say she didn't have an idea, Lucy came out of the bathroom looking her grim, usual self.

“Uh, sorry dude, i’ll catchya later!” Luna called before hoping in the bathroom. Lori tapped around on her phone as more of her sisters lined up behind her.

It didn't feel like long until Luna exited the bathroom. Lori then entered to freshen up for the day. After her turn in the bathroom, Lori continued about her morning routine normally. Despite the conversation before they had entered the bathroom, Luna didn't mention or ask anything more on the matter downstairs.

The morning continued like any other morning for the Louds, with chaos and bickering tied into regular preparations. Just like clockwork though, everyone was ready when the time came. Lori then dropped everyone off at their schools and proceeded with her day. The school day was like any other for Lori, with nothing too eventful. Senior year of high school was proving to be a breeze for Lori, as nothing she was assigned was very hard. Like most others, she was just relaxing in her final year here.

Once she got out of school, she did the exact same as she did in the morning, picking up her sisters and brother from school. Once they all got home, everyone went off on their own way, to do what was expected out of all her siblings. She had a bit under a half hour of downtime before she had to be on her way to work, so she just decided to go up and lay in her bed for a while. She would have loved to watch one of her soaps, but didn't want to start an hour long episode to only see half of it before she took off. And besides, it was nice to lay down for a bit between her two duties.

Her relaxation time seemed to run by quickly, as it was 3:30 before she knew it. Once She saw this, Lori got suited up in her uniform and started out to her job. She was still sure that nothing more out of the ordinary would happen tonight. After getting dressed, she made a quick run to the bathroom before getting ready to walk out the door. However, waiting for her at the front door were Luna and Luan, with looks of concern on their faces.

“Hey, what do you two want?” Lori asked them on seeing them there. She tried to sound normal asking this question, but she could tell something was up the second she saw them there.

“You sure you should go into work today big sis?” Luan spoke up.

“Yeah, we don't wanna see you take any more abuse.” Luna followed.

“It’s seriously okay you two. I mean it.” They both threw skeptical looks at Lori. “Seriously, i’ve worked there for a few months and this has been the first time anything like this has happened. You’ve got nothing to worry about. Really.” The two exchanged a look, and then reluctantly moved from the door.

“Well, if you insist, go ahead...” Luna said, still sounding unsure of Lori. She then proceeded to the family van as normal. While she thought they were being overprotective of her, Lori couldn’t help but appreciate how they were always looking out for her.

She arrived to the same old arcade as usual, with it about as lively as it was when she arrived yesterday. On her way back behind the counter, she couldn't help but look at the area she had been assaulted the night before. Just then, she realized that she couldn't exactly tell which machine she had hit, just the general area. It wasn't all that important to her, but she still couldn't help but think about it.

Once Lori got into the daily groove of work, the events of last night started to slip her mind once again. Having to remember order after order and where to deliver these orders to often had this effect. The day was still unfolding like any other, with a healthy flow of kids in and out of the building all day. There was even a time where Lincoln and Clyde came in for a while, ordered some garlic knots, and played around for a bit. Pretty common sight to see them in here for a Monday afternoon.

As usual, the light outside slowly started to die out, and it started to be more and more empty within the building. However, it never got to the point where it was completely empty like yesterday was. Since all the kids that were still around were off playing the games, Lori decided to check out how much she had made in tips today. She quickly took out the change and few dollars she had in her pocket from today and placed them on the counter she stood behind. There was quite a bit of pocket change to count through, enough in fact, to make her want to recount.

After a few minutes of numbers, Lori found she made about 9 and a half dollars today. Not too bad. She then slid all the change back in her pocket, and looked back at the arcade. It startled her to find out someone had been leaning on the other side of the counter, watching her in silence. After getting over the initial shock of this onlooker, Lori quickly identified him as the sober one from yesterday. He forced a half smile at Lori, but it quickly turned back to an expression of regret.

“Hey there…” he greeted, sounding forlorn.

“Oh… hello. What do you need sir?” Lori asked, though she knew he wasn't here for an order.

“Listen… I just wanted to make sure you were okay after last night. I felt like I kinda deserted you after watching you take that hit.” He claimed.

“Well, I do have a bit of a bump on the back of my head, but nothing too bad.” Lori informed him. He looked a little relieved at this answer.

“Good to hear it.” He replied. “I mean, it seems you’re okay and all, but I still can’t help but feel bad for you. I felt like I should have stopped him.” He added.

Since he was right in front of her face, Lori had a bit of curiosity inside of her that she had to let out.

“What were you two doing in here anyways?” He seemed to think about this question for a second, but soon replied.

“Well, me and my brother Kurt decided to do some hell-raising after Saturday night, as we only have a few days of free time before… our job sends us half way across the country. We saw this place and couldn't resist an old fashion gaming session like we did when we were kids.” He described. Lori nodded in acknowledgment. They were both quiet for a few seconds after this.

“Umm… is there any way I can make this up to you?” He then questioned. Lori raised an eyebrow at this question, as she wasn't sure where he was going with this.

“I mean… make up how?” she asked, wanting to see what he had in mind.

“We could have a night of fun like me and my bro did. Whatever you like to do, all on me."

"And no, I won't get you hammered.”

Lori had to think the whole thing over for a second. A night of fun for free sounded nice, but sounded too good to be true at the same time. Would he really go through with this?

“Well… okay…” Lori responded, still unsure of the whole thing.

“Great!” he smiled, lighting up like Luna did this morning to learn that Lori was okay.

“Does a week from today work?” he asked.

“Yeah, I don't have to work next monday.” Lori informed him.

"Alright, meet me in this parking lot right out here around 3 that day.” He told Lori

“Okay mister.” He then reached over the counter to grab Lori’s hand in a half handshake.

“What’s your name, kid?” He asked.

“Lori. Lori Loud.”

“Nice. I’m Kyle. Kyle Busch.” He responded.

He proceeded to let go and stand up from leaning on the counter.

“Well, I gotta get going, but i’ll see you then.” He declared, starting to stroll over to the door.

“See ya then Lori!” He turned and shouted as he walked out of the building,tone far more happy than when he had arrived.

After he left, Lori couldn't help but think about this supposed playdate. She still wasn't sure if Kyle was going to show up, let alone remember. Also, her sisters, particularly Luna, probably wouldn't approve of her hanging with the brother of the guy who socked her in the stomach. Despite the thoughts she was certain her sisters would have, she knew Kyle really did feel bad about what had happened from his face, along with coming back to see her at all. Maybe her sisters didn't have to know. After all, it was her night of fun, why not keep it her business?


	3. An evening with Rowdy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle and Lori meet up for a night of fun.

The rest of the week continued like any other at the arcade. Lori found herself wondering quite a bit about what her and Kyle could do next monday night, but tried to not get her hopes up too high that the whole thing would actually happen. After giving it some thought, she did end up keeping the entire meet-up a secret, as she still didn't know how her siblings would react to the whole thing. Also, she didn't want rumors that she was hanging with another guy to get to Bobby…

Since the rest of the week was so normal (by a Loud’s standard), it wasn't long before next Monday came around. Throughout the week, Lori told everyone who asked that she had to work Monday. It was a convenient and believable cover-up, as her work schedule didn't follow a strict pattern that would make it unusual for her to be working on a Monday.

After another run of the mill day at school, Lori was ready to go and see if Kyle was for real. Once she got home, she didn't spend any time relaxing, as 3 o’clock was not so far away. She put on her work clothes to walk out the door in, but loaded her purse with a spare set to actually go and hangout in. Once she had gotten this change ready, she went downstairs and went for the door.

The only person in sight when she walked downstairs was Lincoln, chilling on the couch with his face in a comic.

“See ya sis!” He said on seeing her walk out the door.

“Goodbye, Lincoln.” Lori responded before going outside. She then walked over to the family van, and started to dig out her car keys when a thought occurred to her. Would Kyle have a car? If so, bringing the van would be kind of useless, as it would just sit in the arcade parking lot for a few hours.

After internally debating the dilemma for a couple of seconds, she decided to leave the van behind and take a walk to the arcade. She knew the walk wouldn't be that hard, as Lincoln did it all the time.

She was right, as the stroll was only about 15 minutes around the neighborhood. She then arrived in the parking lot to find no sign of Kyle around. Upon seeing this, she took the opportunity to duck inside the arcade’s bathroom to go and change before he arrived. She made haste about changing in there, as she didn't want any kids to mistake her as working.

Lori walked back outside in her regular blue shirt, tan shorts and blue slippers to find that Kyle was still nowhere to be seen. At this, she leaned up against the side of the building and flipped out her cell. Like many times before, she got sucked into the many posts from her friends about how work was the worst, the craziness that happened in school that day, and the like. She had put her undivided attention on her phone until a horn eventually snapped her back into reality. She looked up to see Kyle standing right outside of the driver’s side of a white car. He was waving at her, with a half smirk on his face. Lori walked over to his vehicle, and entered.

“Hey, great to see ya Lori.” Kyle greeted as she sat in the car.

“Good to see you too. I honestly had my doubts you’d actually do this.”

“Well, at least you know i’m serious about this whole deal.” He added with a smile, which Lori returned.

“Alright, so if you know where you want to go, punch it in that thing.” Kyle told her, pointing at a GPS on the dash. Despite having all week to think about it, Lori knew where she wanted to go right as Kyle offered this night of fun. She quickly punched in the address to the local mini-golf course, and waited for the route to appear. As she placed the device back on the dash, Kyle silently nodded as the instructions played through the GPS. He then popped the car back into drive, and turned out onto the road.

The ride to the course was a bit awkward, as neither of the two knew what to talk about. Kyle did ask Lori a few questions, such as “How long have you been working?” and “you still in school?”, but the discussion was mostly nothing more than a quick question and answer. Luckily for them; the ride wasn't long. They arrived to find no wait for a game, and plenty of space before the next group on the course. They both got a ball and club from small shack that held them, and began to play.

Kyle took the first stroke, firing his ball down the generic first hole. It ended up bouncing off a far wall and coming to a stop a few feet from the hole. Lori couldn't help but smirk as she bent down to take her shot. She took a few seconds to line up, pull back, and shoot down the fairway. The ball hit the same wall Kyle’s did, bouncing off with much more power, straight into the hole. Kyle’s eyes widened for a second at this, as he turned and looked at Lori, giving her a bit of a smirk.

“Nice shot, kid” he complimented, with a small laugh. He then sank his own ball in the next shot, after which they both continued along to the next hole.

The rest of the matchup continued in a similar fashion, with Lori making many holes look easy while Kyle struggled to replicate her precision. There were a few times where Kyle did better than her on a hole, but Lori knew how to handle the bumps, water hazards, and props far better than Kyle did in the end. While the performance of the two mostly stayed the same, attitudes did not.

For the first 9 holes, Kyle was very friendly and passive about how the game was going. Most holes ended with a compliment to Lori, and a smile. However, at about the halfway point in the game, Kyle started to get a bit quiet during and after holes. His face also stayed primarily blank, with a few looks of disappointment sprinkled in. This behavior became the norm, with nothing else different for the most part. He did let out a noticeable grunt when he watched his ball ride the rim around the hole on #14, though.

After about a half hour, the two found themselves at the final hole of the course. A straight shot down a steep downhill grade into a hole that sucked the balls away. Lori went first this time, giving the ball a slight tap like she had done plenty of times on this hole before. It built up speed down the slope, slowed as it got to the bottom, and disappeared into the hole. Lori then looked back at Kyle with another smirk, then proceeded to walk down a set of stairs on the side of the hole. Kyle looked back with a blank expression. Upon getting to the bottom, Lori scribbled another “1” into her score card. She already had this win in the bag, with a total of 55 strokes compared to Kyle’s current 63. As she looked up, she saw Kyle staring down the hole for a few seconds, visually lining up his shot, and taking a swing. It rolled down the descent quickly, bounced off the far wall with a thunk, and came to rest a couple of feet from the hole.

“Goddamnit!” Kyle exclaimed from the top of the hill, followed by him jogging down the fairway to get to the ball. He then tapped it in with a put, shook his head, and met up with Lori.

“Wow, having fun there, Kyle?” She teased, at the sight of his frustration. He shot her a bit of an annoyed look, but it quickly softened away.

“Yeah, I know… I never fail to show my competitive side towards anything like this.” He explained, followed by a small smirk.

“Yeah, I get the same way in some of my varsity golf meets” Lori half bragged. At this, Kyle looked at her in an almost smug way.

“Ooooooh. I see now. You brought me here because you knew you were gonna kick my ass, huh?” Kyle asked, a bit of grin forming on his face. “Most definitely... but honestly this was the first place that came to me when you offered for some fun.”

“Whatever you say there, Lori.” Kyle responded.

After this, they took a walk back to the car. They turned it on to find it was only 4:15. They were both quiet for a second.

“You know Lori, the night’s still young… wanna try something else?” Kyle asked. Lori looked confused for a second, then nodded. Kyle grabbed his GPS and started tapping away at the screen.

“While I was away, I looked for my own fun around here.” He stated, not taking his eyes off the GPS. He then placed it back down, backed his car out of the parking lot, and went onwards to the next destination.

The car ride this time was much more social, as the two started to warm up to each other. Kyle wanted to know more about Lori being on the golf team, which she gladly described many occasions where she faced off against different schools throughout her time at the varsity level.

“...so, if we can get some new recruits from the JV team, we’ll be able to go back to back in our division.” Lori monologued, talking about her team winning the division championship last year.

“So Kyle, did you play any sports as a kid?” Lori asked, after being the one to talk for most of the ride. Kyle snickered a bit at this question.

“Well, depending on who you ask, I still play a sport.” He replied.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well… remember how I said I had to go on a trip last week?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I have managed to make a living off of racing cars. All over the nation.”

“Really?”

“Yep. And I take trips like that more weeks than not out of the whole year. Heck, we had a race the night before not too far from here when me and Kurt paid you a visit in the arcade.” He told her.

Lori could only respond with a small “hmm”. On the inside, she was skeptical he was telling the truth. Racing all over the US for most of the year? She wasn’t even entirely sure if he had to go on a trip or not, how could she believe him?

Lori ended up getting a bit lost in thought for the rest of the ride, asking herself whether to believe Kyle or not.

“We’re here!” Kyle announced, snapping Lori out of her trance. She stepped out of the car to a plaza she had never been to before, let alone heard about. She turned to see Kyle walking towards a large, warehouse looking building, with a giant sign on the top reading, "NASKART".

"C’mon Lori, give this a try!” Kyle called from the door. She jogged over to him, and they both entered. The inside was an entertainment area bigger than anything Lori had seen before. There were arcade machines, table games like pool, and even two miniature bowling lanes. But the main attraction was a giant go-kart track, with twists and straight-aways spanning from one side of the building to the other. Karts were zooming around it as they entered, howling throughout the facility.

After marvelling at this sight, Kyle took Lori up to a computer to sign up for their turn on the track. After signing up and taking a picture of both of their faces, they discovered that they were queued behind 2 other groups.

“Looks like we got some down time to kill. One thing’s for sure, I don’t wanna go racing on an empty stomach”. They soon found a table and ordered some food, with Kyle getting a hot dog and Lori a grilled cheese. As she waited for the vittles to arrive, Lori did some more looking around. She would have to tell Lincoln about this place, this seemed right down his alley. Before she turned her attention to the drivers in the karts, she couldn't help but notice a wall with a giant mural of race cars, with one car having the name “KURT BUSCH” printed at the top of the windshield.

The food came to the table quick, which they ate up while watching others take some laps around the race track. Lori was actually thrown off guard by how quick the tiny machines could go, flying around the track full of twists and turns spanning the whole building in only about 25 seconds. During this race, Kyle gave his undivided attention to those out on the track. He would occasionally say something to those driving, despite only Lori being able to hear him. Though he muttered a lot of jargon, such as “cut high!” And “bump and run ‘em!”, Lori really took note of when two drivers got into one another near the viewing area, spinning one into the plastic barriers around the track. This was followed by a quiet laugh from Kyle.

After the group ahead was finished, the two were called ahead to watch the rules of the track. While it went in depth on what everything meant, neither paid that much attention to all the details. Basically, don't completely run over one another and wear all the equipment right. After the short video, they were both taken to get gear for the race. They both slapped on a helmet and gloves, and were led out onto a section of course containing the karts. Lori was strapped into a kart with a solid yellow scheme, while Kyle’s had a green scheme, with pictures of candy and decals for Crispy M&Ms plastered in a few different places on the machine.

Each of them took a warm up lap, and lined up against a checked line. A light fixture then lit up red. Lori then looked at Kyle, in which he gave her a thumbs up. Before the race began. Then, the light changed colors accompanied by audio cues.

BEEP

BEEP

BOOP!

At this, they both took off towards the first turn, with Lori taking the inside line around it. Despite this, Kyle was able to power around her on the outside, getting a nose ahead of her as they entered a series of S bends. Kyle was able to get all the way in front of Lori though these, and took more of a lead as the corners progressed. Before she knew it, she had lost all visual of her fellow racer, and any idea of where he was on the track.

While it didn't seem like much of a race, Lori was having fun driving this little thing around the sequence of corners. It seemed as fast as it did watching them go by at the table. The wind howled past as she flew down the straights, before slowing down for the next series of corners. While it was always cool being able to drive on the roads, it didn't even come close to the adrenaline this ride induced.

It was a couple laps after Kyle had apparently vanished when Lori could feel herself jolt forward as she entered a quick bend to the right. On the following straight, she took a quick glare behind her to discover her friend was tailgating her. At this, she decided to enter every corner as close to the wall as she could, just to see if she could prevent Kyle from getting by. She was able to achieve this for about a lap and a half, but this changed at a sharp left hairpin. Going in, she could feel her back wheels slide out from under her. This pushed her from hugging the inside wall to almost slapping the outside, along with Kyle ducking by her. Although she couldn't see his face behind his helmet, she could tell he turned his head to look at her after passing by.

After this encounter, Kyle took off again, gaining more and more kart lengths on Lori in everywhere he seemed he could. After getting pushed aside, Lori took a look at the large screen above the start/finish line displaying the best times for both of them.

**LORI - 26.510**

**WILD_THING - 23.923**

Wow. Lori had thought transporting a van full of kids everyday would make her a good driver, but Kyle was making her look about as experienced as Lola in her power wheels by comparison.

After a few more times around, the karts automatically slowed down as employees around the track waived Lori down into the pit lane. As Lori dismounted from the kart, Kyle rolled up beside her several seconds later, and started to unload as well. They both met up back outside in the viewing area, where it was now Kyle’s turn to brag.

“Couldn't quite keep up, huh Lori?” he taunted. Lori couldn't do anything but smile, as she did enjoy the ride, despite eating his dust.

“You really are good behind the wheel, aren’t you?”

“Well, you could say i’m on my own varsity team for this stuff.”

“And to think I doubted you…” they both chuckled a bit, during which Kyle checked for the time. 5:44. Seemed like a good time to call it a day.

“Alright Lori, ready to head back?”

“Yeah, don't wanna my sisters thinking I went missing on them.” Kyle understood, and they soon left the building and returned to the car. Lori entered in her home address, and the two drove away for the final time.

The ride back was quiet once again, as Lori made note of how far this kart place was from their house. It wasn't a road trip to get there, but it was a bit out of the way from where her sisters normally ask to go. Maybe they’d want to broaden their horizons if they saw places like the one she’d been to.

It took about half an hour to get back, but Kyle ended up finding her house without any trouble. He pulled up into her driveway, where she leaned into the back seat to grab her purse and work clothes.

“Thanks Kyle, I really enjoyed tonight.”

“Hey, just glad I could make the whole thing up to you.” This was followed by a bit of an awkward moment where they just sort of stared at one another. Lori considered giving him a hug or something, but couldn’t quite bring herself to do it.

“Well alright Kyle, have a nice night Kyle.”

“You too.” At this, Lori stepped out of the car and stretched a bit.

“Hello Lori.” A voice greeted. She looked down from her stretch to find Lincoln and her other nine sisters behind him. They all wore looks of suspicion and disappointment on their faces.

“Where were you tonight?” Linc asked, with an almost threatening gaze.

“I was at… work…” Lori’s voice broke off from this sentence. She wasn’t even in her uniform, she could already tell he didn’t believe this.

“So where were you when me and Clyde were in today?” he followed.

How’d she forget about something this blatant? Saying she would be at work was such a convenient excuse for being out of the house, she forgot that Lincoln could check if she was actually there.

“Uhhhh…”

She couldn’t manage any response at the moment, she knew she was busted. At this, Lincoln and the entire pack behind him started to rant at Lori at the same time, making anything they were saying unintelligible. It seemed they were all on about how confused they had been about her not being at work. Lori couldn’t do anything more than stare, and take all she could in.

“Who are your friends?” Lori nearly jumped at this, she had been focused so much on the bombardment of words from her sisters that she didn’t even notice Kyle stroll up beside her.

“AHH! Kyle! I thought you left!” She exclaimed. She then took a second to calm down, and then spoke.

“These are my sisters and brother.” Kyle raised an eyebrow at this.

“All of them?” This question was answered by the crowd, with a bunch of yesses and “mhms” from them.

“And who are you?” Lincoln turned to Kyle.

“My name's Kyle Busch. Me and Lori here went out for some fun. I felt it was the least I could do after my bro kinda… slugged her in the gut the other night.”

“WHAT?!” At this, Luna walked up to Lori looking angry.

“You seriously get beaten by a guy and then go out with his brother? Why!” Luna scolded.

“Nononono! He’s good, I swear!” Lori pleaded.

“In fact, I can prove it! KYLE! Why don’t you come on down for some dinner next monday? Our treat!” Lori half-begged, grin of panic on her face. Kyle shrugged at this on the spot offer.

“I don't see why not…”

“GREAT! See ya then!” Lori exclaimed, followed by her making a break for the door. The pack of girls and boy rushed after her, leaving Kyle outside alone.

It had really been an enjoyable night. While the two of them weren't exactly the best of friends, it was fun getting to meet someone new. He also took a second to think about this dinner Lori just decided to invite him to. It looked like Lori had quite an interesting life on her hands in there, and Kyle was about to see what it was like. And considering she was about to reveal what her life was like, why not show her a bit about his? 


	4. Plus One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Lori's invitation to Kyle, the family gets to know Lori's pal a bit better... and then some.

 

> Lori’s heat of the moment decision to invite Kyle over for a dinner with the Louds caused another week of waiting, but for the whole family this time. She could swear she had to recite the entire story of how they met and what happened on their meetup a hundred times between all of her siblings. Lincoln seemed the most interested in the tale, as every time he and Lori had any sort of interaction he seemed to ask for another detail about what happened. This sort of made sense, as he was the one that busted Lori for not being at work, and chewed her out when she got home that night.
> 
> Despite the curiosities from some of her sisters and subtle disagreement from others, she made sure all of them would be ready for when Kyle came next week. While she made everyone promise they would behave around him and keep an open mind, she couldn't be sure they would actually do it until the time came. While her siblings had mixed reactions to the ordeal, Lori’s parents did not. She pitched the whole thing as any old dinner with a friend to them, and they were okay with it, no questions asked. At least those two wouldn’t completely deny any chance for Kyle to come over.
> 
> After yet another week of ordinary madness, Monday rolled around once again. Just like the last week, Lori had her doubts that he’d even show up. The last playdate had shown her that he was nice enough to actually show up for something like this, but she wasn't entirely sure he would be willing to do the same for something so sudden. Sure, Kyle’s offer was sudden too, but he had to see how she wasn't thinking straight when she asked, right? She could only find out…
> 
> Right after she got everyone home from school, Lori stayed in the living room, monitoring the door for sound. She watched some TV to pass the time, but it was background noise to what she was really expecting. The hours passed, with no sign of Kyle. Before she knew it, it was nearly six, almost an hour after they usually ate. She knew they didn't want to wait super late, so he’d have to get here soon if this dinner was happening. Lori knew her family too well, as she was soon pestered about the time.
> 
> “Hey! Lori! When’s your friend gonna be here, we want to eat!” Lynn came in and complained.
> 
> “Soon! Just wait!” Lori shot back.
> 
> “Ugh! We’re digging in if he’s not here in 5 minutes!”
> 
> “You’d better not!”
> 
> After this, Lori frantically checked her phone every few seconds to see the time. She couldn't blame her sisters, as she was hungry too. But she didn't want to leave only left overs for Kyle. Where was he?
> 
> With a minute to spare, a knock finally rang out from the door. The sound made Lori flinch on hearing it, followed by a sigh of relief. She jumped up and opened the door, to be greeted by none other than the man she’d been waiting for.
> 
> “Kyle! You’re here!” She greeted.
> 
> “Have I ever let you down?” He replied, grin on his face. Lori soon took a once over on him, and noticed his outfit. It was a yellow suit and hat, with many brand names all over the sleeves and body. The most prominent brand seemed to be M&Ms, not unlike the kart he used during the race they had.
> 
> “This is really your racing outfit?” Lori asked.
> 
> “That it is my friend, that it is.”
> 
> “Nice. I love a man in uniform…” Lori smirked.
> 
> “Well, dinner's waiting, we’d better go…”
> 
> “Wait!” Kyle interrupted.
> 
> “Uh, tonight kinda… overlapped with something I had going on…”
> 
> “Oh… sorry.”
> 
> “No, it’s fine, really, but uhh… do you have room for one more tonight?” 
> 
> Lori didn't quite know what he meant, and it seemed to show to Kyle, as he proceeded to point to his car. In the passenger's window was the head of someone else, looking at them conversing.
> 
> “Yeah, it’s fine. We always have more than enough here.”
> 
> “Great.” He then gave a thumbs up to the guy in his car. Before he could come and introduce himself though, Lynn again shouted from the table.
> 
> “LORI! Come on!” She then rushed to the other room to tell everyone he was here. She then grabbed an extra seat from the younger kid’s table, to accommodate the other visitor. Lori then parked in her seat and got herself ready for dinner. Soon after she sat down, Kyle entered the room.
> 
> “Hello everyone!” He said, before walking towards one of the open seats. Soon after him, Kyle’s guest entered, and looked around in silence. His buddy had the same sort of hat and suit on, but much different from Kyle’s. His outfit had different patches of purple and orange, and displayed the words “FedEx” instead of M&Ms. After surveying the room for a second, Kyle’s friend shot him a look of confusion, and proceeded to slip over to the seat next to him.
> 
> “And you are…?” Lori asked, as he hadn't introduced himself yet.
> 
> “Call me Denny.” He quickly stated. Lori could tell from this response and how silent he was walking in that he wasn't exactly eager to talk at the moment.
> 
> Once they both were seated, the Louds wasted no time getting dinner rolling.
> 
> “Alright Rita, they’re here now can you please go get the food!?” Mr. Loud asked, sounding almost crazed. It seemed Lynn wasn't the only one starving.
> 
> “Alright, hon! Just give me a second.” After this, Mr Loud turned and faced his guests.
> 
> “So which of you is Lori’s friend?”
> 
> “That’d be me.”
> 
> “Well, nice to meet you Kyle. Lori’s told us a bit about you. You’re the first person she’s ever really talked about from work…”
> 
> Kyle nodded and smirked a bit to this, as it was interesting to him that he was the only person noteworthy enough for Lori to tell her family about.
> 
> Soon after this introduction, Mrs. Loud came back into the dining room, hands full of plates for everyone. Dinner was spaghetti, the way Mrs. Loud always made it. Looks like Lori wouldn't have to worry about the food being bad, Mom’s spaghetti was always the best. As she passed it out, however, something caught Lori’s attention. On the opposite end of the table from her, Luna and Lincoln sat together, and were both staring Kyle down. It didn't seem like Kyle noticed, but Lori was bothered by this. She didn't want him thinking her family didn't like him. She thought subtle ways to tell them to knock it off, but ended up staring the two of them down herself as she mentally drew a blank.
> 
> “HEY! Lori!” Luan’s cheery voice caused her train of thought to cease.
> 
> “What do you want Luan?”
> 
> “What do you call a bad part of town in Italy?”
> 
> “...what Luan…”
> 
> “The Spaghetto! Hehehe!”
> 
> This was followed by a few groans from around the table. Denny, however, seemed to be giggling a bit.
> 
> “Ya think Carl knows that one?” He turned and asked Kyle. Kyle shrugged a bit in response.
> 
> Once everything was set up, no one wasted any time digging into the food. Throughout the main serving and the seconds that followed, the only sounds that came from anyone where the muffled noise of chewing and the occasional exhale after a large bite. After this group face stuffing session, Mr. Loud was the first to speak in several minutes.
> 
> “So you're a racer, huh?”
> 
> “That’s what they tell me.”
> 
> “What brought you up to our neck of the woods?”
> 
> “Well, there’s a track not too far from here, where the regular season ends and makes way for the chase, or the playoffs to decide the champion.” He took a breath to continue, but was promptly interrupted.
> 
> “Racing has playoffs? Why?” Asked Lynn.
> 
> “We try to be like other sports, I guess..."  Replied Denny.
> 
> “But… racing isn't like other sports… you don't use a ball or anything like that…” Kyle and Denny exchanged a glare after this, before looking back at Lynn.
> 
> “I don't know what to tell ya, kid. I’m not the CEO.” Kyle responded. Lynn gave a bit of a confused look, but then let Kyle continue.
> 
> “Anyways, after the race, me and my older brother decided to take a bit of a cruise and chill for a while. I guess it just sort of led here.” Mr. Loud nodded at Kyle’s tale.
> 
> “So, how did you and Lori actually meet?” Luna inquired.
> 
> “Luna…” Lori spoke up, knowing exactly what she was trying to do. She would have ripped into her if they had been alone, but didn't want to cause a scene in front of her parents or Kyle.
> 
> “Oh. Hehe. Well, my bro kinda brought an outside drink into the arcade. Lori tried to get him to put it away but he sort of… socked her in the gut… then, I came back the next day and apologized for the trouble.”
> 
> Mr. Loud then turned to Lori, who had a bit of a defensive look on her face.
> 
> “That really happened?”
> 
> “Well, uh, yeah… but d-don't be mad at Kyle, he didn't do it…”
> 
> “Well, if it’s water under the bridge for you, we aren't mad.”
> 
> “And besides, you've been hit worse by your sisters during your fights." Mrs Loud chimed in. Lori couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief, as she was sure they would have told Kyle off when they heard this side of the story.
> 
> It was silent for a few seconds after this, until Mr Loud turned towards Denny.
> 
> “You’re his brother?”
> 
> “Hehe, no, i’m just his teammate.” Denny then quickly turned towards Lynn.
> 
> “We at least have teams!” Lynn didn't visibly react at all to this.
> 
> “Anyways, yeah. I travel the same circuit Kyle here does. In fact… you’ll never guess who won said nearby race.” Denny boasted.
> 
> “Yeah, whatever. Talk to me when you're the defending champion there, Hamlin.” Denny shook his head in response. “So how long have you been teammates?” Lori asked.
> 
> “What is it, 8 years now? We go a ways back.” Denny answered.
> 
> “I remember my first encounter with this guy was…”
> 
> The two then recalled some of the memories they had going door to door with one another. The stories ranged from Denny, Kyle, and other teammates lining up to help Denny get the win in the first race of their season, to another time where Denny put Kyle into a wall, which in turn caused Kyle to reek some havoc in Denny’s trailer. They also touched on a few of their own events, like when Denny got wrecked by some Joey character and broke his back, to when Kyle tried to pass someone for the lead and instead took a 200 mile per hour tumble.
> 
> These story of speed intrigued Lori, maybe because she knew how it really felt to drive. It always was a bit worrisome if she’d get in an accident or not, she would have never imagined anyone got into them at nearly 4 times the speed she went. And to think she thought the go-karts were hauling.
> 
> After the improvised story time, Denny checked his phone and suggested it was time they split. At this, everyone at the table excused themselves, while Denny made a run to the bathroom, leaving Kyle and Lori alone once again.
> 
> “Hey, thanks for inviting me down here Lori.” 
> 
> “Not a problem Kyle. Glad you could see a bit how my life is like.”
> 
> “Yeah. Um, do you have a phone Lori?” Kyle asked, although he knew the answer.
> 
> “Yeah, why?”
> 
> “Mind if I see it for a second?”
> 
> Even though she was trusting Kyle more and more, she was still reluctant to give someone her phone, regardless of who they were. Despite her phobia, she still handed it over to him. He tapped the device several times, and eventually turned to show her the screen.
> 
> “Here, I added my number for you. So we can communicate more if you want to chill.”
> 
> “Oh… that’ll help.” She reached to grab her phone back from him, but instead he pulled back and started punching buttons again.
> 
> “And since I saw a bit more into your world, why don't you see a bit more into mine? Clothes and words can only show you so much.”
> 
> Lori looked at words on her phone’s note sheet, reading “Sunday, 2:00 P.M. NBCSN”.
> 
> “Tune in then if you really wanna see me in action.” Kyle stated, and then winked. Lori nodded back.
> 
> Denny then returned from the bathroom, and Lori led the two back towards the front door. In the living room, Luna was watching the TV while Lynn and Lana tossed a football back and forth. Lori then took her guests to the door.
> 
> “Thanks again for being here, Kyle.”
> 
> “Hey, it was nice. Food was good and got to talk a while.”
> 
> He waited a few seconds, and continued.
> 
> “You're gonna tune in Sunday right?”
> 
> “Of course.”
> 
> “Great. Now it’ll be my turn to show a thing or two…”
> 
> “LOOK OUT!” Lynn suddenly shrieked, as Lori turned for a split second to see the ball she was playing with bolting towards her. She squealed, closed her eyes and put her hands to her face, expecting a hit. All she got, however, was an “oompf” from one of the two guys and a thud.
> 
> She opened her eyes to see Denny on the floor, with the ball in his grasp. Lynn ran over to check him out, and get the ball.
> 
> “Uh, sorry about that. My hand slipped a bit there.” Lynn apologized. She then grabbed Denny’s hand and helped him back to his feet.
> 
> “Hey, it’s alright. You got quite the arm, don’t you?”
> 
> “Ohh, I guess so. Thanks…?”
> 
> “I mean it. I play different sports with friends of mine - like other than racing sports - and few of them can throw that well.”
> 
> “Wow… thanks.” Lynn’s face twisted into a bit of a smile at this.
> 
> “What’s your name again kid?”
> 
> “Lynn Loud Jr.”
> 
> “Go long Lynn!”
> 
> Lynn then ran back to the far part of the room, where she jumped and intercepted Denny’s pass. He then rejoined Kyle and Lori at the front door.
> 
> “Well, on that note, I guess we're off.” Kyle then opened the door for his friend.
> 
> “See you again, Lori.” He said before closing the door and heading off for his car. Kyle then plopped in the driver’s seat, buddy by his side, ready to drive back from where they had came.
> 
> “You know, this isn't exactly what I had in mind when you said you had a dinner to attend…”


	5. The Monster Mile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lori watches Kyle at work on a race day.

Lori awoke Sunday morning ready to see Kyle once again, but this time on the “big screen”, so to speak. She didn't exactly know what to expect, from what kind of car he’d be driving to how long the entire thing would be. Considering it was sunday and a day off from work though, she’d have no trouble finding out.

Like always by the afternoon, all the Louds were off doing their own thing, whether that be in their room or outside somewhere. With no plans for the whole day and no one around to impede her, Lori could have the TV for basically as long as she wanted.

It was a few minutes before 2 O’clock when Lori ended up sitting down and sifting through the TV channels. It was not long after she began the search that she got a text from a certain someone.

**_Kyle_** - _Race day Lori! You watchin?_

_**Lori**_ \- _of course I am :)_

**_Kyle_** \- _Awesome. This win will be for you!_

After looking at and responding to the texts, Lori found the channel Kyle had told her about. The TV tuned into a slideshow like scene of men in colorful suits, not unlike the ones Kyle and Denny showed up to her house in the other night. This visual was accompanied by the national anthem, which ended with a pair of jets flying over the speedway. It then flashed a few images of cars spinning donuts and drivers celebrating before cutting to commercial. This seemed like the place. Lori then took the time to go grab a bag of chips before the event got underway.

On returning to the room, Lori was greeted to the sight of cars rolling out onto the speedway, one by one. The view was accompanied by a on screen graphic, showing where each driver would start. It didn't take too long for Lori to find her man, as Kyle was to start in row 2. It then went through 20 different rows of cars and drivers, including Denny starting in row 4. The cars then rolled around behind a pace car, waiting for the start.Lori noticed during these parade laps that the cars mostly looked the same, besides different paint jobs and front bumpers.

The cars took a few more laps around the track behind the pace car, which soon pulled off the track. The cars then shot off into the corners, with Kyle and two drivers ahead of him rushing down to the bottom of the track in a single-file line. Behind them, other cars were mere feet from each other, looking for any room they could get. After a quick lap around the course, it was revealed on the screen that there was 399 more laps to do. Jeez, that last lap had been only 20 seconds or so, but 400 laps was going to take awhile…

More laps passed by, with many of the cars spreading out and the TV feed snapping from car to car. For a while, the TV fixated on a few different cars farther back in the field, until the camera suddenly snapped to Kyle passing a white car for the second position. Lori smiled a bit seeing him move up, one spot away from being the leader. He had a bit of a gap to close, however, as the leader was way out of the shot between Kyle and the now 3rd place car.

As more and more circuits were completed, Lori watched Kyle reel in his opponent more and more. While the cameras continued hopping from car to car, a banner on the top of the screen reported how far away Kyle was from the leader, known as “Truex Jr”. As Kyle was shaving fractions of a second off of Truex’s lead, the TV eventually cut to black, and then ran some commercials. Lori then slouched back on the couch and sifted through her phone for a while.

Surfing the web killed the few minutes of commercials, eventually returned to the broadcast. The camera now fixated on Kyle’s car, and the announcers stated how he had taken the lead under the break. As a side by side shot was played of the live feed and the actual pass for the lead, Lori couldn't help but smile again. She knew Kyle was good, but she didn't know he was good enough to be the leader against a whole pack of other professionals.

Once Kyle got around Truex, he started to widen his lead more and more. After a bit more car-hopping by the TV cameras, more commercials were ran. Once again, Lori killed some more time browsing through her phone, and the commercials blew by for a second time. However, the TV returned to a much different shot than Kyle out front.

A camera fixated on the number 4 car, sitting in a garage motionless. This was sequentially followed by the TV showing a replay of what happened, kind of like what they did for Kyle’s pass for the lead. The car now in the garage appeared to randomly erupt in smoke, before pulling off the raceway.

Once this video explanation was over, it then flipped to all the cars on the track behind the pace car, just like the beginning of the race. Then, after a lap like this, all the cars ducked off the track and into a pit lane. All the drivers worked their way into their own service area, where a team of men swapped the tires and filled the fuel tank. The service team seemed to move as fast as the cars, as Kyle was in and out in a bit over 10 seconds.

Once all the work was done in the pits, everyone took a few more laps behind the pace car. Then, they lined up like they did at the beginning, and set sail once again. Without having to pass any cars this time around, Kyle immediately stole the lead, leaving Truex and others to chase after him in the ensuing laps.

 

\--------------------

 

The cycle kept on repeating, with multiple scenes of racing being broken up by commercials. Since Kyle was far enough ahead of his competition, the cameras made a tendency to focus on others who were closer, many times mere feet from one another. While this cycle continued on normal for the TV, it changed a bit for Lori during one break. Like before, Lori sent texts to a bunch of her friends, and tuned out the commercials going on in the background.

“HEY SIS! Whatcha watchin’?”

Lori jumped a bit to learn that Lynn had slipped inside from the back yard and had jumped on the other end of the couch.

“Ah! Oh. Hey Lynn. Just watching something Kyle wanted me to.”

“One of his races?”

“Yep.”

After a few seconds, the broadcast returned, as always. The camera then focused on Kyle once more, showing his smooth sailing continued.

“That’s Kyle right there, huh? Leading and all?” Lynn asked.

“That’d be him.” Lori replied, almost proudly. Lynn proceeded to watch in silence for awhile, watching Lori’s friend amongst others fly around the race track.

During one segment of the broadcast, the cameras focused on a yellow and white car, known as “Logano” and “Keselowski” on the running order. Along with this, another car was soon behind them, adorned in a purple and black scheme.

“Hey, that looks like Denny.” Lynn observed, as the purple and black car reeled in the others. On closer inspection, not only were the colors the same as the suit Denny showed up in the other night, but he also had the same FedEx emblem on the hood of the car.

“That’s gotta be him. He said he was a racer too.”

Denny was soon side by side with the other two cars, as lapped traffic slowed them down.

“C’mon Denny!” Lynn shouted to this sight.

“You like him, huh?” Lori asked.

“Yeah, he seemed cool. I didn't expect him to play along when I almost… you know, took your head off with that ball.” Lynn replied. Lori nodded in response.

Lynn proceeded to be Denny’s cheerleader for the next few minutes, encouraging him to get around the two drivers ahead of him. It didn't work out too well, however, as Denny’s opponents started to leave Denny behind once the traffic was out of their way. This didn't stop Lynn’s cheers, however. Lynn continued this encouragement until the next commercial.

“Alright Lori, I think i’m gonna head back out.” Lynn announced.

“Alright.”

“Let me know if anything cool happens. See ya!” And like that, Lori was alone again.

 

\----------------

 

More of the race sped by, with Kyle still on the point for the entire time. One thing Lori really did not expect was for the 78 of Truex to put up such a fight, as the last run Kyle pulled way away from him when he got the lead. Ever since the end of the caution, however, Truex seemed to keep Kyle in his sights. It was actually quite entertaining, seeing Truex make a dive for Kyle’s position in every other turn, with Truex down low and Kyle running at the high part of the track.

The on track battle between Kyle and Truex spanned until another commercial break. Similar to what happened before, the broadcast returned to show a car with issues. This time, the 21 car was stopped on the track, with the right part of the front end caved in. Replays once again covered what happened, which showed the 21 slam the outside wall coming out of one of the turns. Lori could only image how hard of a jolt that impact must have been on the driver, considering how fast the cars went.

The 21’s wreck caused another caution period, causing the field to duck back down on pit road, like the last time. Once again, Kyle was in and out first keeping him in the lead. The feed then cut back to more commercials. While Lori glared at her phone once again, she was interrupted by a knock on the front door. Lori got up, stretched a bit, and then made the walk over to open it.

“Heya, Babe.”

“Boo-Boo Bear!”

Bobby was at the door, for nothing more than a surprise visit. Lori hugged and welcomed him inside.

“It’s been too long, Bobby.”

“That it has, babe.” He responded, while sitting down on the couch and putting an arm around Lori.

“So what are you watching here, a soap?”

“Well, not exactly…” It was then that the race returned back to the TV. Lori quickly glanced to see that Bobby had a puzzled look on his face.

“What’s this?”

“Ahh, just something a friend of mine wanted me to check out.” Bobby nodded in acknowledgment.

Lori and Bobby talked on about their weekend, amongst other things, while the race started back up. This run, Kyle got back out into the lead, but Truex wasted no time chasing him back down. Then, during one break from the race, it returned to show that not only Truex got around Kyle, but a second car passed him as well, the blue 48 of Johnson.

“Aww, come on Kyle…” Lori mumbled when she saw Kyle was displaced to 3rd.

“Who’s Kyle?” Bobby asked.

“That yellow 18 car. I root for him.”

“Why’s that?”

Lori hesitated before answered, as she wasn't entirely sure what Bobby would think of her encounters with Kyle.

“I like his car… and he’s good.” Lori answered. For a second, she didn't know how legitimate those reasons sounded. Would he believe her?

“Cool.” Bobby responded, giving a bit of relief to Lori.

The two continued to watch the race, commenting on a few different aspects, such as how everyone was rocketing around at nearly 200 miles per hour, to what cars had a cool paint scheme. As the race continued, Johnson eventually got ahead of Truex, and took off to his own sizeable lead. Johnson continued to lead, unable to quite shake Truex but made a massive gap on the rest of the cars. This continued until the cars made a visit to pit road while racing. Johnson’s team was apparently over the wall and working on the car too soon, so he had to bring his car back down pit road again. This handed the lead back to Truex, who proceeded to dominate with the biggest lead he had on Kyle and the rest of the field all day.

Truex continued to put on a clinic right down to the very end. With a little under 10 laps to go, Kyle seemed to gain every other lap, but it was ultimately irrelevant due to Truex’s nearly 9 second gap. Laps continued to tick down, and before Lori knew it, the announcer exclaimed that the last lap was upon them. Lori and Bobby watched as the black 78 made its final circuit around the track.

“Martin Truex Jr has to solidify himself as, the favorite for the 2016 championship.” The announcer stated, as Truex himself made his way through the final turn.

“...as he’s dominated round number one, and he’s dominated at Dover! He’ll win again!” The announcer boomed, as Truex sealed the deal and won the race.

“Awww…” Lori moaned in disappointment. A few seconds later, the on screen results showed Kyle coming home in the runner-up position.

“Hey, second place isn’t bad. And besides, there's always next time.” Bobby assured Lori.

“When is that next time, anyways?” He followed.

“Kyle… um, someone said they do this nearly every weekend.”

“See? He’ll get another shot.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Way to be an optimist, Bobby.” said Lori, turning to smile at him.

After the race had ended, Lori and Bobby hung out for a while longer, talking about gossip, work, and a few hugs and smooches here and there. After another hour together, Bobby had to leave, as school and work awaited him tomorrow.  Once he was gone, Lori opened her phone and decided to offer a few congratulatory words to her driver.

_**Lori**_ : _Hey Kyle, good job out there today!_

_**Kyle** : Thanks Lori. Came up a bit short, but still in the playoffs. _

_**Lori** : Hey, you can’t win them all. You did a real great job of holding off Truex for a while there. _

_**Kyle** : Yeah, i’ll get em next time, just you wait!_

Lori smiled, his ever-present confidence in himself amused her. Rooting for Kyle’s success along with hanging out with others made the whole experience fun, and Kyle’s confidence left Lori wanting to see what more he could do. And just like before, Lori just had to wait another week to see it happen. Even though the race finished not too long ago, Lori was already looking forward to next weekend’s event.


	6. A Team Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle returns for another visit, this time to unwind amongst nature.

It had been about 3 weeks since Lori first watched Kyle race at Dover, and she continued to watch him every weekend after that. Along the way, Lori saw an assortment of different drivers win, as well as a few different tracks the circuit had to offer. From the shorter oval of Dover, the mid-sized tracks of Charlotte and Kansas, and the high banked, high speed behemoth of Talladega, the schedule provided a mixture of tracks that were similar, but different. Along with this, Lori also learned a few things from following the races, such as the cars can’t drive in rain.

While Lori saw and learned many things over the past few races, she had yet to see Kyle win one of the races. While he around the front for most of the time, he always came up just a bit short in the end. His strength on track gave Lori confidence every week that he could win, though.

It had been a few weeks since Kyle had payed a visit to Lori, due to all the places he had to be every week. Due to this, it came as a surprise when Lori randomly received a text from him one Monday.

**Kyle _: Hey Lori. How ya doin?_**

**Lori _: I’m doing great! Glad to hear from you Kyle :)_**

**Kyle _: U doin anything tomorrow?_**

**Lori _: Not that I know of. Y ask?_**

**Kyle _: Me and a few buds are going on a bit of a stroll near your town. Was wondering if you wanted to join us._**

**Lori _: Yeah, i’ll come. What time?_**

**Kyle _: 2-ish_**

**Lori _: I can do that. See you then!_**

Lori was excited for the rest of the day, as she’d get to see Kyle again for the first time in nearly a month. After watching him do a few races, she had a few questions to ask him about what it was actually like to be a competitor.

Lori’s anticipation made not only the rest of the day burn by, but school the next day as well. After making a trip to all the local schools to collect her siblings, Lori took a few minutes to change and freshen up before her ride got here. She inspected herself for a few minutes in the mirror, until she was interrupted by a text from Kyle, simply saying, “outside”. At this, Lori walked down the stairs and out the door.

She then opened the door and stepped outside to find herself nearly running over Lynn, who was standing at the door, as if she was going to open it as well.

“Sorry Lynn." said Lori as she continued down to the driveway, where she saw the familiar, white car of Kyle's.

“Where you going, sis?” She heard Lynn ask, but decided to ignore it. She soon got over to Kyle’s car, and swiftly entered.

“Heya Kyle!”

“Hey Lori, How ya doing?”

“Pretty good. How about you?"

“Yeah, it’s been going alright. Life's always a bit hectic this ti...”

Kyle suddenly stopped and looked when they heard a tap on Lori’s window. Lori rolled it down to see the smiling face of Lynn.

“What do you want, Lynn?” Lori asked, a look of annoyance growing on her face.

“I wanna know what you’re doing.” She replied.

“Nothing.” Lynn then looked around Lori to see Kyle in the driver’s seat.

“Hey Kyle!”

“Hello Lynn.”

“What are you two up to?”

“Me and Lori were gonna go hiking up a small mountain with a few of my friends.”

“Really? Cool! Can I come?”

“Lynn…!”

“Yeah, you can come if you want.”

Lori stammered in protest, but Lynn was already buckled up in the back seat before she could say anything to stop her.

“Alright, let’s go.” said Lori, a hint of frustration in her voice. She didn't want any of her sisters tagging along, as hanging out with Kyle had meant time away from them all. She’d better not be a nuisance or else…

The ride there was a bit more noisy, due to the extra passenger in the voyage. Lynn always seemed to have energy, and seemed to use a lot of it for commenting on what felt like everything they passed on the way there. From asking how close they were to their destination to how often a car drove by on the other side of the road, Lynn seemed to have something to say for every little sight they saw. Lori half-mindedly acknowledged many of these remarks, usually with a quick “m-hmm”. With Lynn yapping away in the back seat, Lori really didn't have a chance to ask Kyle much about what she had seen over the past few weeks.

The car ride wasn't too long, but Lynn being a chatterbox made it feel longer.. Kyle drove down many winding roads, which eventually led to a parking lot on the edge of a thick woodland. Kyle soon led them to a path, which got a bit steeper as it went on. Soon enough, it led to a clearing, which was found to be at the base of a small mountain. The three took a second to take in the view of the behemoth spanning into the sky.

Right as they arrived, a call could be heard in the distance.

"Hey! Kyle!"

After looking around for a second, Lori pinpointed the call to a group of three others a bit further up the mountain. Kyle ushered Lori and Lynn to follow him, which they obeyed. They soon met up with the 3 guys, one of which was familiar. Once the three made it to the other group, Kyle introduced his buddies.

“Lori, Lynn, these are my friends Carl and Matt. Also, you know Denny.”

“Hey guys, nice to meet you.” Greeted Carl, while Matt responded with a quick “Hey”.

“Hello Lynn, didn't expect you to be here.” Said Denny, the familiar member of the group.

“Me neither, good to see you Denny.” Lynn then replied.

“Alright, we’d better get going, we don't have all night.” Kyle announced, starting up a path which seemed to wind all the way up the mountain. As they strolled along, Lori started to strike up some conversation.

“So Kyle, things seem to be going pretty okay with you…”

“Yeah, i’ve been doing alright. Haven't gotten that win for you though.”

“Hey, it's fine. You’re trying hard and doing good.” Kyle nodded in response.

“Hey Denny…” Lynn then spoke, “you win any of those races?”

“Well no, but i’ve ran pretty well.”

“Why not?”

“Just didn't have the car or luck I guess…”

“C’mon! You can win if you just try harder!”

“Well, I tried as much as I could…”

“Then you should have won! Unless you don't have the skill.”

“There’s a little more to it tha…”

“Here, i’ll show you. Race me up the trail, and if you try hard enough, you’ll beat me. Let’s go!”

At this, Lynn took off running up the trail, making running uphill while dodging rocks and other obstacles of nature look like a breeze. Denny turned at the group, shrugged a bit, and started in pursuit of Lynn. “Guess that takes care of her…” Lori thought.

With those two gone, Lori started to chat with Kyle a bit more.

“So Kyle, glad to have you back here. More racing up this way I assume?”

“Good guess.” He said with a smirk. Made sense he’d be here for that. Lori then turned and looked at Carl and Matt walking behind her and Kyle.

“Are you two drivers as well?”

“That we are.” Said Carl.

“Teammates, actually." Matt added.

“All four of you are teammates?”

“Yes ma’am.” 

Lori only knew that Denny was Kyle’s teammate, she had no idea that was only half the team, let alone know that they were racing alongside Kyle for the past few events.

“In fact” Kyle continued, “we went on this hike for a bit of a team bonding. Since none of us have been eliminated from the playoffs, we decided to do this today to unwind before we take on the next few weeks.”

“Basically, we're hanging out with one another before we have to ruin each other's title hopes and probably want to kick each other’s asses.” Carl chuckled.

As they continued to ascend up the landmass, Lori got to ask the three different questions, from how they have the energy to drive a car for hours at a time to how the whole playoff thing worked. Lori also found out that Carl and Matt were the drivers of the 19 and 20 cars. When she put some thought to it, she remembered seeing them on the track a few times.

The path eventually led up to the mountain's peak, where the four found Lynn and Denny, both sitting on a rock and panting.

“Who won?” asked Kyle, upon seeing the two.

“This guy caught up to me with ease. I don't know how he did it.” Denny then put his hand on Lynn’s shoulder.

“Effort is important, but experience plays a part too.” He cited Lynn stuck her tongue out, and then laughed a bit.

Once she was at the top, Lori took a second to glare at the scene below her from the peak of the mountain. The dense woodland below made a field of green spanning for what must have been miles.

“Pretty neat, huh?” Kyle said as he strolled up alongside Lori.

“Definitely.”

“It’s not often I get to unwind like this. Life always moves fast for me, you know?”

“I can relate. I always wish I got more alone time.”

The two proceeded to soak in the view, until Carl called both of them over to the rest of the group.

“Mind if you get a picture of the team Lori?” Carl asked once they walked back over to him.

“Sure thing.”

“Here, you can use my phone.” Kyle said, handing it to her. She then took some shots of the 4 man team, getting a few different angles of them with either the sea of green or blue sky behind them. Once that was done, Kyle invited Lori and Lynn to get in the photo. The end result was pretty crazy, with Lynn making it look like she was jumping across the shot, to the cross-eyed, tongue-out expression Carl put on his face.

It was getting a bit late once the makeshift photoshoot was done, so the six of them started to descend the mountain the same way they came from. Since the group was all together this time, Lynn had a few questions for the four drivers this time. Despite her affinity for sports, everything the four told her was new information. This sense of learning showed, from her being surprised a sports schedule could span from February to November, to not understanding how teammates really didn't do all that much to work together during an event.

Once the group got back to where they started, Carl, Matt, and Denny told their goodbyes, and went off to their own car in the parking lot. Kyle, Lori, and Lynn then loaded into Kyle’s ride, and took off back towards their home. On the way back, Lynn almost immediately dozed off. Made sense, she probably had to use a lot of energy to run up that mountain. Lori took some time to admire the sunset on the way back, before closing her eyes and resting as well.

As she started to rest, she took a second to reflect on what she had just experienced. Kyle was too nice to take her on yet another outing, one of which she had never experienced anything like it before. Despite Lynn tagging along, the trip provided some ever-welcome peace and quiet in Lori’s life. Thinking about this made Lori wish she could take a step back with Kyle more often.

Soon enough, she felt Kyle shaking her shoulder, finding herself back in her driveway. Lori reached back to wake up Lynn, then proceeded to say goodbye.

“Thanks again Kyle.”

“Hey, glad you could escape for a bit with me.”

“Yeah, it was nice. Good luck this next race, and win that title!”

“You bet Lori. See you next time!” At this, Lori and Lynn both got out of the car, and started towards the house. When she turned to face the house, however, she saw Lincoln in the window, looking at Kyle’s car with what seemed to be a look of disdain on his face. He didn't glare long though, as when Lori got closer he ducked underneath the pane of the window. Lori couldn't help but wonder what that was for…


	7. Driver Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lori invites the quartet of drivers over to introduce them to her other siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://kboys71.deviantart.com/art/Lori-Loud-and-Kyle-Busch-drawing-695970588

After the hike up the mountain, Kyle and his crew hit the track once more, this time at a tiny track known as Martinsville. Despite having Denny, Matt and Kyle being close to the front most of the race, they seemed to impede one another towards the end, letting the 48 of Johnson leave them behind.

Amid the events on track, however, the one thing that really caught Lori by surprise during the broadcast was when they showed a picture of Kyle and the three other drivers she saw earlier in the week sitting on rocks, at the top of the mountain they scaled. When did they take that? Guess there was only one way to find out…

After about an hour, Lori did the usual correspondence with Kyle, to see what he had to say about his performance.

**_Lori:_** _Heya Kyle._

_**Kyle:** Hey._

_**Lori:** Still seem to be doing pretty well out there, huh? _

_**Kyle:** Yeah, but I coulda done better if Matt and Denny hadn't held me up at the end  >:( _

_**Lori:** It did seem you were battling there. Anyways, you know a pic of you guys on the mountain was on TV? _

_**Kyle:** yeah, we had whatsherface, your sis, take that for us while you were off sightseeing. _

_**Lori:** Ah ok. _

Lori then waited a few minutes before continuing.

_**Lori:** So, you’re still in the area, right? _

_**Kyle:** yup _

_**Lori:**  why don’t you and the rest of your quartet come down for a visit? I think I got a few friends they could get along with… _

_**Kyle:** Yeah, okay. In fact, we could probably lighten the tension after today by all paying a visit. Good idea, Lori. _

_**Lori:**  Thanks! _

_**Kyle:**  Tomorrow work? _

_**Lori:**  yeah. See you then! _

As normal, another day of school dragged by for Lori, as most Mondays did. After Lori picked up all her siblings and delivered them back at the house, she waited once again for her friend, waiting to see what fun Kyle and her would have this time. It was only around a half hour after Lori got home that a knock was heard on the front door. As expected, Kyle and his 3 buddies had shown up.

“Hey Kyle.”

“What’s up Lori.”

The other 3 behind him waved a bit. Lori then welcomed the four inside. Once inside, Lori directed Denny to the backyard where Lynn was playing, along with directing Matt and Carl upstairs to look for Lucy and Luan.

“So, whatcha got going on today?” Kyle asked, as his buddies took off to where Lori directed them.

“Ahh, nothing much really.” Lori responded.

This response then made Lori realize that she really didn't think of anything for them to go and do. How'd she forget that? All previous times they met up, Lori either had a week to think about what could be done, or Kyle already had something they could do.

“So!” Lori spoke up. “I totally have a place we can go. C’mon, i’ll drive!”

“Well alright, lead the way Lori.”

If she drove around for a bit, she’d find something in the area to do, right? She could only hope...


	8. The Lady In Black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt and Lucy meet.

Matt and Carl walked up the stairs, looking for the rooms Lori referred them to. On the way up, Matt couldn't help but take a quick glance back towards Carl, who had one of his normal carefree looking smiles on his face. He could only guess what was going through his head, but assumed it contrasted to what he himself thought. Kyle had convinced him to come back to meet those girls he had brought up the mountain last week, which they apparently had someone for him to meet. A blind playdate? Why? He couldn't help but be skeptical on the whole ordeal.

Matt and Carl reached the top of the staircase, where they found a hallway with multiple doors to the left and right of them.

“Which one was it?” Matt turned and asked Carl.

“I wanna say this one right here was for you.” He responded, pointing directly behind Matt.

“Sounds about right.” Matt then walked up and turned the knob, swinging the door open and taking all the sights of this room in at once. His heart skipped a beat when a small swarm of living, breathing bats came flying out, making him duck to avoid one of them colliding with his face.

“AHHH! JESUS!” Carl exclaimed upon the critters shooting towards him. He then took a second to lean against a wall and regain his composure after his near heart attack.

“Yeah, I don't think this is the place for me, Matt.” Carl then took a look at the far left end of the hallway to see a bathroom.

“I’m just gonna go over this way, maybe you should introduce yourself…” and as soon as he was done talking, he jogged off to the open restroom and slammed the door shut behind him. Alone, Matt looked inside the room, now without the risk of more creatures popping out. Matt almost couldn't believe what he was looking at once he was inside, as the room was cut in half, with one side being loaded with sports gear and the other being dark and spooky. Talk about sharing a room…

After his initial glance at this two-faced bedroom, Matt noticed how clean the dark side of the room was compared to the sports side, which had balls and sports paraphernalia from scattered about the floor. The only thing on the open floor for the dark side was an orb, sitting on a small stand. Upon seeing this, Matt scanned the room one last time, just to make sure he didn't overlook anyone who was using the artifact. Seeing he was alone, Matt walked up to the orb and kneeled down to take a closer look.

The orb seemed to have a dark purple smoke spinning around on the inside on an endless cycle. During this inspection, Matt couldn't help but think of the orbs that had little bolts of energy that went to the location of your hand when you touched it. Maybe it was one of those? He started to reach out to it to see what it would do upon his touch. Better do it gently, he thought, didn't want to…

“What are you doing?” A monotone voice from behind him asked. Upon hearing the words, he immediately tensed up, and his hand quickly moved away from the orb. He hesitated for a second before turning around, as he needed a second to calm down from a second scare in less than five minutes. He looked behind him to see a girl dressed in black and white, with jet black hair that hid her eyes.

“Uh, nothin’” Matt stammered.

“I don’t believe you.” She replied back, not a trace of emotion in her voice.

“Lori told me to look for some Lucy i’d get along with.” He then thought about it for a second, and felt it come together as he calmed down some more.

“Lucy?”

“That’s me.” So this was the one Lori had thought he’d get along with? He wondered what made her think that.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Matt.”

“Why Matt, do you wear something so insidiously colorful into my haven of darkness?” Lucy then asked. Matt looked down and knew she was referring to his shirt, a yellow polo with the Dollar General logo to the left of his chest.

“Sponsor colors…” he then explained. Lucy stared back blankly, in what he assumed was a gaze of disapproval.

“So, whatcha got going on there?” Matt then asked, trying to divert the attention away from his clothing.

“It’s a magic crystal ball. I can see the future with it.”

“No kiddin’...”

“Would you like to see the future?”

“Yeah, why not.” Matt really didn't think too much of what Lucy wanted to show him, as he knew how psychics usually were. They’d make a show in their ball, make up a few things, and send the client on their way. Matt glared down at the orb once again when he sat down, then looked up to see Lucy wearing a turban style hat any psychic would.

“Hope you’re ready.” Lucy said to Matt as she sat behind the orb.

“Ready as i’ll ever be...” he thought.

She then started to hum a rhythm, as she moved her hands in what looked like some sort of pattern. As this was going on, the smoke inside the orb started to spin faster, as the haze swirled around like tire smoke during a victory burnout. After a few seconds, Lucy stopped humming, and she kept her hands still above the orb. All of a sudden, the smoke brightened until the whole puff of violet smoke turned white. Then, the white cloud started showing traces of a spectrum of different colors, most noticeably a yellow blob towards the center of the smoke. The colors eventually started to form more definable shapes, and it was soon after that Matt was able to recognize his own yellow race car from the haze.

Matt couldn’t believe it. How’d she do that? Did she know what his car looked like? Some magic trick this was turning out to be…

As Matt stared on, it soon became apparent that this image was not only of him, but itwas moving as well, as it seemed the tires on his car seemed to be spinning. He watched as his apparent future self stepped on the gas and prepared to turn into a corner that was out of the picture. Hr then entered the bend, but soon found the front bumper of another vehicle outside of the view, sending him back-bumper first into the outside wall. As Matt watched his car limp away from the wreck, the smoke creating the image then cooled back off to a white puff before darkening back into a purple haze.

Once it seemed the show was over, Matt looked up at Lucy with somewhere between a puzzled and shocked look on his face.

“How’d you know what my car looks like?”

“I don’t.” Lucy replied, with the blank expression on her face turning into more of a smirk, as Matt’s eyes widened a bit.

“And how far into the future did ya say this was?” Matt further inquired.

“Only time will tell.” Matt then took a second to ponder about what he just witnessed.

“To think I thought this was gonna be some cheesy magic trick…” he said aloud. This made the smirk on Lucy’s face grow just a bit more. Matt then turned up and faced Lucy.

“Got anything else up your sleeve? I’ll gladly watch...”

“As you wish”. Lucy then started to hum and move her hands in a pattern once more, with Matt sitting in silence, wondering what awaited him this time...


End file.
